Building Pedastals

Plan your dimensions before making any cuts.
Remeber the wood grain should run parallel to the height of your pedastals to minimize rough cuts.  
Some wood  grain will be visible below the paint!

 3/4 inch plywood worked well for our pedastals.

A square is very useful!

Clamps help hold a straight edge to cut along.

Here Dean cuts along the clamped straight edge with a skill saw.

We cut most of our edges with the blade set at 45 degrees so the edges would miter.

Very dusty!  Remember to wear masks!

Use clamps and wood glue on the corners....

followed by a nail gun (if you are so lucky)!
The nails should be  every 5 inches or so and on both sides.
 Remember to let the nails sink a bit deep so they can be filled and sanded later.

Form the walls first, and then lay the top of the pedastal in.

Pedastals then need to be rough sanded, blown free of saw dust,
and a wood  filler added to create a smooth surface.

When the putty/filler is dry, sand smooth.  Occasionally, the putty shrinks too much
and a second thin layer will need to be reapplied; let dry and re-sand.

A primer coat of acrylic based paint is critical and will save you $!

Roll on the final paint, using a brush leaves too much texture.
(here is shown an acrylic semi-gloss white)
Two coats is usually nice.
Note the sticks proping the pedastals...key to clean edges!
 Make sure to allow ample dry time,  a few weeks is the best,
so the art work will not remove any paint.